Challenge

The senior management team of a top financial services company viewed an effort to reengineer a core customer service process as a necessary but isolated change effort. While they were supportive, their involvement was distant and limited. The actual reengineering work was delegated to a team comprised of middle management and line staff.

As the reengineering team began to define the ideal customer-focused company, it became clear that every aspect of the organization would be affected. Senior management recognized that its own lack of alignment, conflicting priorities and behind-the-scenes positioning were creating the very hierarchy, bureaucracy and poor customer focus they wanted to eliminate.

Solution

The reengineering team and senior management worked together to develop a shared customer-focused vision and created a high level of alignment around the individual and organizational behaviors necessary to achieve their goals.

Result

What started as a mid-level process reengineering effort fostered involvement and change at all levels of leadership necessary to achieve sustained success.

Organizational change cannot be delegated; the team at the top must be intimately involved and committed to the goal.